boat yard said he never heard of this happening before. >> not something that big. we didn't believe it yesterday. we've hauled the boat out a number of times. i never heard of a boat that big being ripped off. >> apparently the alleged thieves enjoyed themselves in the high seas in the lap of luxury. here's a ktvu reporter with the details. >> it looks like they turned it in to a party boat. investigators found the inside littered with beer cans and pizza boxes. >> nothing like pizza and beer cans to class up a yacht. >> alas, did not last long. they were arrested right off the yacht which is also a first for local witnesses. >> that is the first where i've seen them have to get the perpetrators off. >> now, this really isn't the most subtle crime in the world. how did they think they would get away with it? don't people learn anything from "30 rock" anymore? >> welcome! welcome to your fantasy. >> sir! i need you to disembark immediately.

>> this is not his boat. we got to get off this thing. this is not his boat. >> disembark immediately. >> is this your boat? >> disembark immediately. >> i can't even say the word yacht without thinking of "arrested development" and the magical stylings of jobe. >> any magician can make a queen of diamonds disappear. what about a whole boat? ♪ final countdown >> at first there was a yacht. now there is not. >> all right. so how did you do it? >> michael, magician never reveals his -- i sunk it. i sunk the yacht. at least i think i sunk it. i blew it up and i don't see it anywhere. >> nana was on that yacht. >> what? >> you killed nana. >> it's simple. if it's not your yacht don't make it disappear.

you will surely get caught, at least on the "ridiculist." that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins now. jee,. without warning, a lion suddenly turns on one of its keepers, killing a young woman inside a cage. new this morning, north korea said to be conducting tests on a high scale. and some of the same areas hit hard by hurricane sandy. and droning on and on and on. one senator's protest over drones turns into a one-man nearly 13-hour marathon on capitol hill. >> this was pretty high drama. >> very impressive. >> the type of thing we've not seen in washington in a long, long, time. >> welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. thursday, march 7th, 5:00 a.m.

in the east. we start with developments in the tragic mulling death a 24-year-old intern at an exotic cat sanctuary in florida. it's so sad. she lived for these animals and ended up dying in one of their cages. let's take a look at video of couscous, who had to be put down. this horrifying ordeal unrav unraveliunrave unraveling in dunlap, california. >> the question is morning is how did that 24-year-old volunteer intern get in harm's way, how did she get in a position to be harmed by this lion? what we can tell you is cat haven had all the necessary permits, was state regulated and seemed to have a good reputation. >> this is a northern african

lion. >> a lion shot dead wednesday afternoon. >> female volunteer intern entered the lion's enclosure where she was attacked and fatally injured. the lion was shot and killed per our safety protocols. our thoughts and prayers go out to the -- our friend and family and to her family at this time and this trying time. >> reporter: the 24-year-old volunteer has been identified as diana hanson from washington state. her facebook page shows her pictured with large cats. her father released a statement last night saying in part, diane was so excited at working in cat haven and living in california. her favorites were the tiger and the lion couscous who killed her today. >> we're moving over to the african lions and i'm going into the den. >> jennifer michaels also known as jungle jenny got an up-close view of the lion while getting a tour of the animal sanctuary

called cat haven. >> i didn't see any type of aggressive behavior or anything that i needed to be worried about. >> reporter: cat haven is a 100-acre, wooded sanctuary, home to some of the rarest cats in the world, including lions, tigers and leopards. it's dedicated to the preservation of wildcats. 5-year-old couscous came to the sanctuary as a cub. founder dale hanson says this species of lion no longer exist in the wild. >> all the ones you see are in captivity. >> reporter: as for the victim diana hanson, it's not clear exactly how she died but her father says big cats were per passion, writing we will miss you so much but i know you'll be happy. for now you truly are in the eternal cat haven. >> and the father, at least in that statement doesn't seem to hold animosity towards cat

haven. in fact, he also said in that statement that the way to honor his daughter's memory is to support preservation societies just like this one. zoraida, john? >> when you look at the pictures you know she was doing what she was passionate about. a quick question here. were there any signs of previous aggression with cous cous? >> it's a good question. not that we're aware of. cous cous appeared on different broadcasts such as the "ellen" program. we saw really no signs of aggression. you cannot be lulled into a false security with these animals. they're hard wired to be predators and apparently that's what we saw play out yesterday. >> yes, they are wild animals after all. dan simon, thank you for that. we appreciate it. "starting point" will have much more on this deadly lion attack.

soledad o'brien will be joined by jeff corwin and jack hannah will be on live as well. this just in to cnn this morning, north korea ups its tough talking with threatening a preemptive nuclear strike against the united states, as the united nations security council prepares to vote on tougher sanctions against north korea. reuters reports a foreign ministry spokesman made this threat in a statement to a state-run news agency. right now it is believed that pyongyang doesn't have the capacity to deliver a nuclear strike against the u.s. this rhetoric not unheard of from north korea, although they've been saying it an awful lot over the last few days. it has caused a lot of people the last few days to take notice here. to the nation's capital where the magic number is 12 hours and 52 minutes. that is how long it took rand paul to finally stop talking earlier this morning. really just happened a few hours ago. the kentucky senator protesting the administration's domestic drone policy with an

old-fashioned filibuster, pausing only for an occasional sip of water or bite of a candy bar, all this while he was delaying the confirmation of john brennan. he was doing this to make a point. >> no american should be killed by a drone on american soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found to be guilty by a court. that americans could be killed in a cafe in san francisco or in a restaurant in houston or at their home in bowling greene, kentucky, is an abomination. >> strom thurmond set the record, 24 hours for a filibuster but we haven't seen this in years and years and years. shannon travis is live in washington this morning. this is something to behold. >> reporter: you mentioned strom thurmond holding the record just

over 24 hours. we haven't seen this in such a long time, it was quite bizarre. senator rand paul was elected in 2010 with support tea party support. he has libertarian leanings. he's long sharply criticized the administration's use of drones and targeted killings against americans overseas. he has a real problem, a real concern about the possibility of that happening here, killing americans on u.s. soil. with those droughns. that's basically the crux of this long filibuster that he had. john brennan is considered an architect of that drone program. you just played a little bit of a quote from rand paul questioning, again, that policy. but he also in this long, long filibuster, john, he also went a little bit fairy talish to make his point. take a listen at this. >> has america the beautiful

become alice's wonderland? no, no said the queen, sentence first, verdict afterwards. stuff and nonsense alice said widely. the idea of having the sentence first? hold your tongue, said the queen, turning purple. i won't said alice. release the drones said the queen as she shouted at the top of her voice. lewis carroll is fiction, right? >> and john, the senator was also tweeting during this long prolonged period. i'll just read one of them to you. quote, no president has the right to say that he is judge, jury and executioner. from that rand paul. did he have a little bit of assist -- a lot of assist from republicans but a little bit of assist from a democrat. that would be ron white of oregon who says he will eventually support brennan's nomination but that he also has

questions about the use of drones against americans. >> how has the white house responded to this so far? >> the white house is responding. we know that attorney general eric holder yesterday had the senate hearing where he said, look, it has never happened before. he can only imagine this happening in an extraordinary situation. >> you mentioned rod widen helping out. rand paul is getting a strange bipartisan coalition of moderate support on this, the aclu, tea party folks, reince priebus called on republicans to help him out last night. >> there's a blending of, as you mention, the far left and far right having real concerns about americans not giving due process, terror suspects who might be americans, whether they're overseas or on u.s. soil, not being given due process and being targeted by this drone program. >> shannon travis, thanks for this report. nice to see you out of the snow

this morning. nine minutes past the hour. there will be more questions by the jury at the jodi arias murder trial. she answered nearly 100 in court yesterday. among them, why she can't recall after what happened after she got her boyfriend, trafts alexander. >> why is it you have no memory of stabbing travis? >> i can't really explain why my mind did what it did. maybe because it's too horrible. >> arizona is one of three states that allow jurors to question witnesses during a criminal trial. arias has been on the stan for the better part of a month now. a lot of testimony, gruesome, graphic. arias faces the death penalty if he's convicted. >> full disclosure, couldn't take my eyes off this yesterday. fascinating jury questions. sharks by the thousands, just when palm beach area lifeguards thought it would be safe to let people back in the

water, we're talking thousands and thousands of sharks right now. a lifeguard supervisor says sightings like these are common, even in the thousands at this time of year. there's a shark migration with sharks moving north after spending the south -- winter in the south. >> cool to watch. >> no, it's not cool. >> you don't want to be in the water. >> there's like 10,000 sharks. nothing cool about that. >> it looks fantastic. just don't be in the water. duly warn. happening now, a state of emergency. parts of virginia pummeled by a huge winter storm, up to 20 inches of heavy, wet snow fell in some parts of the state. that caused governor bob mcdonald to declare a state of emergency and activate the national guard as well. authorities opened shelters for the 215,000 virginians who do not have power. the storm is on the move, bringing gusty winds and snow to new york city and coastal flood warning to the northeast including some areas that are still recovering from superstorm

sandy. karen mcginnis is standing by. she's monitoring the system for us. we are going to begin with jennifer delgado, live in massachusetts. what's happening there? >> what's happening here? not much at all, winds gusting roughly up to about 40 miles per hour. i'm in situat, massachusetts. this is the south shore. as we walk over closer, you're seeing some of the white caps coming in off the ocean. what we'll be dealing with today is a storm surge, potential coming at 6:50. and should say high tide coming at 6:50. with that we are going to see a storm surge just under three feet. what that will mean for the communities along the coastal area, they'll be looking at coastal flooding there. we're talking about erosion. keep in mind you mentioned superstorm sandy but of course the big nor'easter from february 9th, this also damaged some of the coastline here.

some of the communities up there are on voluntary evacuation. we do have roughly about 300 national guards here. they're here just in case something happens with the coastal flooding but keep in mind, with high tide coming later this morning, tonight as well as tomorrow morning, it's going to be even higher, the threat for the coastal flooding is going to be pretty great here. storm surge just under 3 feet. we're getting mixed precipitation. it's not pleasant but it's exciting. >> i can hear the wind gusting there. it's nice to know the national guard is on standby. >> it's hard to think under these conditions sometimes. >> you're doing a great job, jennifer. thank you. let's get to karen mcginnis. yesterday we were anticipating a lot of snow here. we got gusty winds. what can we expect today? >> yes, it was very hard and difficult to forecast this system. i think it was sequestered. that's my thinking with this

storm. it does have legs, though. and the area of low pressure still situated out in the atlantic but still on the northern edge. that's where we'll feel the effects from boston to new york. new york, you'll see the gale force winds expect for the afternoon. but a secondary aspect of this and that's what jennifer mentioned. aside from the snowfall, is that we're expecting those strong winds coming out of the north and the northeast. gusts up around 50 miles an hour. here's new york and for the afternoon, two maybe four inches of snowfall. because of the winds, the wind is going to drive that water onshore because they've been compromised from superstorm sandy, zoraida and john, it looks like we could see the potential for some moderate beach erosion once again. >> we'll have another hit coming up in 20 minutes. >> karen mcginnis, thank you. meanwhile, the market is on fire. one day after hitting an all-time high, the dow did it again, gaining 42 points to close at 14,296.

zoraida checking her 401(k) at this very moment. the index is up 9% already this year and happening right now, dow futures pointing higher again this morning. >> good gracious. >> suggesting another rally at the opening bell. >> how nice. we love sharing news like that. coming up, president obama's dinner date with republican senators. how did it go? was compromise on the menu? we're going to check in. t givesu 5% cash back at restaurants? generous. get the new it card at discover.com and sign up for 5% cashback at restaurants now through march. something this delicious could only come from nature. new nectresse. the 100% natural no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit. new nectresse. sweetness naturally. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money.

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welcome back. 18 minutes past the hour. by all accounts the dinner date went well and hopefully they'll see each other again soon. president obama taking a group of republican senators out for dinner last night. that was in the nation's capital, bipartisan cooperation was on the menu. has he began laying the ground work for a deficit-cutting deal. dan lothian is following the developments in washington. this morning, i called it a lovefest. berman says it a likefest only.

shed some light for us. >> reporter: you know, it's amazing that we're talking so much about just this one dinner but it's unusual because the president doesn't usually sit down and meet with gop senators in this kind of setting. the white house saying that the president thought it was a very good dinner, that there was a good exchange of ideas and the senators telling us they talked about everything from budgets to entitlement reform to tax reform. one telling us that it was the conversation was, quote, very real and that nobody was holding back punches. >> it was a dinner date with republicans and president obama picked up a tab. blocks from the white house at the swanky jefferson hotel, food and fiscal challenges in an effort to find compromise less than a week after across-the-board cuts kicked in. honchs you did the meeting go? >> just fine. >> reporter: 12 senators and the

president broke bread for more than two hours. >> what was the tone like? >> positive, encouraging, candid, focused on how do we come together? compromise is necessary and it's possible, the issue is how do we get there. >> reporter: president obama has stepped up his outreach to republicans in recent days. a series of phone calls, this dinner and planned trips to capitol hill next week. engaging in a way his critics say he failed to do in his first term. >> ultimately the way we'll get stuff done, personal relationships are important and i can do a better job. >> reporter: the dinner was viewed as a positive step in the right direction. >> that's why these kinds of dialogues are so important and there needs to be more of them. >> reporter: while they did focus primarily on some of the fiscal issues we're told they also talked about other things suches aimmigration reform. in the end they talked about the need to continue the discussion in a significant way to set up

some kind of process so she could keep talking. they did not settle on anything. as for what was on the menu, they had the choice of filet or sea bass. some drank wine, others like the president, we're told, drank iced tea. >> how do we get there to that big compromise? hopefully they'll continue meeting in swanky places, enjoying dinner and solving problems. >> that's what everyone hopes. >> the magic of bipartisan sea bass. it's amazing what it can do. you'll find fewer houses to choose from out there if you're in the market for a home. that may be a good thing. >> yes, it may. >> we'll explain, coming up. to provide companies with services... like helping hr departments manage benefits and pensions for over 11 million employees. reducing document costs by up to 30%... and processing $421 billion dollars

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the next 18 months you shouldn't have very much risk capital. your job, your have manies, which are doing well and your home. i'll tell you aright now, zillow is telling us the availability of homes on the market is de-klaining. it dropped more than 16% in february compared to a year ago. why is this good? this is good because it sets you up for higher prices. the basically more people are ready to buy. it adds to the anticipation. this report from zillow covers 99 metro areas. and bigger home, the most expensive homes posted the largest drop. you can thank the 1% for that. any of you out there in the 1%, you are buying and selling. inventory for the most expensive properties dropped more than 20%

from last year. midpriced, the supply fell 17%, the lower priced inventory fell 9%. zillow says it's a good problem to have. it will fix itself. the low number of homes for sale means that people are buying. lower inventories can lead to higher prices. there's excitementment selling season, the spring selling season. you're hearing a lot about how at least people tied to real estate think that can be one of the best springs they've seen in years. mitt romney has accepted a new job. >> his boss is kind of his son. we'll have the details on -- >> kind of his son? >> kind of. we'll explain, coming up next. c that helps maintain digestive balance. ♪ stay in the groove with align.

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a wild animal and deadly attack. an intern at an animal sanctuary killed inside a lion cage. a new threat from north korea causing fears of a nuclear strike. off the stage and behind bars. earlier this morning, a judge cracking down on the ballet dancer accused in an acid attack on a theater director. no rest for the storm weary. a brand new flood threat this morning. >> welcome back to "early start," i'm joim. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. nice to have you with us. new developments this morning after a female intern just 24 years old was mulled to death by a 50-pound african lion at an animal sanctuarsanctuary.

this was in california. the big cat known as cous cous had to be shot and killed when he would not allow handlers to get close enough to rescue diana hanson. we go to dunlap, california where we find dan simon this morning. what's the latest on this. >> reporter: we're talking about a 24-year-old volunteer intern. the question this morning is how did she get in harm's way? how did she get in a position to be harmed by this lion. we know this happened yesterday afternoon. parentally she was alone with the lion in an enclosure when she was attacked. crews apparently tried to get this lion to go into a different spot to possibly try to save the victim's life. the lion didn't budge. at that point it was shot. the owner of this place or the founder dale hanson issued a brief statement when he came outside and faced the cameras. take a look. >> the female volunteer intern

entered the lion's closure where she was attack and fatally injured. the lion was shot and killed per our safety protocols. our thoughts and prayer go out to our friend and family and to her family at this time and this trying time. >> they got 50 big cats here at cat haven. it draws visitors, parentally from all over the world. this lion was five years old, had been raised basically since birth here in captivity. so zoraida, the question is how did this happen? was this girl, this 24-year-old intern, lulled into some false sense of security? >> had she been in there before and felt safe? do you know if there was aggression from this lie innocent past? >> reporter: you know, that's a good question. not as far as we can tell. this lion made public appearances, had been on some tv shows.

there's a woman who goes by the name of jungle jenny who spent some time out here, seemed to pet the lion or patted the tale. she was on piers morgan last night and said the lion absolutely showed no signs of aggression. but the important thing to remember is that these are predators and you can't, as we said before, you can't be lulled into a false sense of security. >> dan, tell us more about diana hanson, the victim here. >> she's from washington state. she went to college and she came down here. this was her dream to be around these types of animals. she had a passion, particularly for big cats. if you look at her facebook page you'll see all kinds of pictures of her surrounded by these cats and her father actually spoke out and talked about his daughter's love of these animals. take a look.

>> she was so happy when she got that internship. she was having so much fun. it was a dream job. makes it bearable that she died so happy. >> the father also happens to be a lawyer. what's remarkable at least so far in his public statements, he also issued a statement on facebook, he seems to show no animosity or bitterness towards cat haven. right now he's just obviously in shock and celebrating his daughter's life. he said the way to honor her memory is to support facilities like cat haven, support these animal sanctuaries that try to preserve these animals. >> that's remarkable as a parent, him saying it makes it barable to know she was doing what she loved. dan simon, thank you very much. 35 minutes after the hour right now. right now that monster winter storm is pummeling the east

coast, dumping heavy, wet snow and causing havoc in the roads and in the air. a state of emergency has been declared in virginia where parts of the state saw 20 inches of snow. mass power outages have been reported. 1,600 flights have been canceled and coastal flood warnings are in effect for parts of new england, including areas still recovering from superstorm sandy. right now, the biggest threat seems to be the winds and coastal flooding. karen mcginnis is live in the severe weather center tracking the storm, which isn't going to end for a while, karen. >> exactly. we're taking it through friday, high tide on friday. here are the winds as we look across massachusetts, here's the cape. some of the winds are gusting to near 50 miles an hour. in boston, we're seeing wind gusts close to 40. we've got these wind driven waves and we'll see snowfall. boston in particular is looking at a winter storm advisory. no heavy snow there but the wind is going to be problematic and a lot of these areas saw the big

storm on february 9th and boston has seen a ton of snowfall for the month or the month of february. now this area of low pressure will kind of linger off the mid-atlantic coast. as a result, these waves coming onshore, the wind coming onshore out of the east and the northeast, sometimes gusts up over 50 miles an hour. so we do have this coastal flood warning. in particular, some of the areas are expecting 3 to 5-foot above normal tides coming up for this after-nan and for tomorrow morning. john john? >> karen mcginnis, thank you. the united nations security council prepares to vote on tougher sanctions against north korea. reuters reports a foreign ministry spokesman made that threat in a statement to the state-run nuz agency. right now it is believed pyongyang does not have the capacity to deliver a nuclear strike on the u.s. north korea does make the

threats from time to time. the level of rhetoric and the frequency of the rhetoric seems to be ramping up. >> that's right. we're eyeing another possible record for the dow. 24 hours after hitting that all-time high, the dow did it again. gaining 4g 2 points yesterday to close at 14,296. the index is up an astonishing 9% this year. dow futures are up this morning. meaning we could see a bump right at the opening bell. >> that would be nice. >> new developments overnight in that acid attack. a russian court ruling that the alleged master mind. the victim, suffered severe burns to his face and neck. police say the attack was fueled by a hostile relationship between the two men.

the suspects face up to eight years in convicted. hugo chavez's body lies in state this morning. leaders from all over america have arrived in venezuela. they've closed schools and deployed armed forces to try to keep the peace. we have a sad story to report, a 2-year-old killed by his babysitter's boyfriend. this happened while a colorado family was vacationing in mexico. the family says the sitter let her boyfriend into the walled complex while the couple was out and some kind of violent drug-induced state they say they left him in the pool to drown. both face charges in mexico city. federal investigators are

looking into women's claims. an investigation has been opened up into allegations that unc didn't appropriately respond to claims or provide appropriate grievance procedures. >> sort of related here. president obama will sign the violence against women act into law today after months of negotiations. >> that's great. >> the republican-run house finally signed off on the ball. this is a-- vice president joe biden will be there. mitt romney has landed on his feet. was he ever off of them? i guess when you lose a presidential election. he's returning now to the private sector. romney is joining his oldest son at his investment firm. he'll reportedly work with the firm for one week a month advising on matters of private equity. >> mitt romney knows something about private equity.

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♪ it's a long, long way from my home ♪ [ male announcer ] with the best lineup of vehicles ever, introducing the new chevrolet. why just go from "a" to "b" when imagination can take you everywhere? here we go. chevrolet. find new roads. welcome back to "early start," everyone. we have a cnn exclusive for you this morning. three weeks after olympian oscar pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp, her family is speaking out. now, this is the first time since pistorius was freed on bail awaiting her trial for murder. here's drew griffin. >> reporter: the interview took place inside the capetown home reeva often stayed, in the back room of her cousin, kim martin's.

where she interviewed her and reeva's uncle. has the family now realized emotionally what has happened? >> you sort of wake up in the morning expecting reeva to give a phone call. >> it's easier to deal with it if you don't concentrate on anything else other than the fact that reeva's not here and at the end of the day she's not coming back. >> reporter: what the family says it does not want to concentrate on is just why reeva steenkamp is not coming back. she died in the home and at the hands of her boyfriend, oscar pistorius. he is charged with murder awaiting trial for what he's called an accidental shooting. kim martin says she was as close to reeva as a sister. there were no secrets. she knew the couple were dating. she also knew reeva was not in love. >> i knew that in time she would chat to me about it. >> reporter: but she never did? >> no. she never did. >> reporter: january 2nd on small bay in cape town, kim and her daughters finally did meet him at this seaside cafe. it was the only time she ever met oscar pistorius.

he barely made an impact. >> wasn't long enough to form an opinion on the personality. typical reeva, her and i were chatting, and the kids and what i saw of him, what we did speak, he was nice. he did seem like a nice guy. >> reporter: you still think that? >> i don't really want to comment on that. >> reporter: now the family including reeva's parents barry and june trying to come to grips with a lot of tales from the past. former friends of pistorius speaking out about anger, rage and guns, early signs that police may have mishandled the crime scene and the fact that oscar pistorius, who has admitted killing reeva in an accidental shooting, is now free from jail awaiting trial. >> the less i hear about it, all the other stuff, the better. >> none of us are going to be represented at the court and the trial. none of us in the family are going to go up. we will not be present.

i can tell you that now. and for that reason, it's not about the court case. it's about reeva. >> reporter: it would be too painful but choking back tears mike steenkamp did say he one day does want to meet the man who killed his niece. >> i would like to be face to face with him and forgive him, forgive him what he's done. and that way i can find more peace with the situation by telling him face to face. >> reporter: you would forgive him, mike, whether this was a tragic accident or whether this was -- >> whatever, whatever the outcome, i feel with my belief and if christ could forgive when he died on the cross, why can't i? >> reporter: drew griffin, cnn, cape town, south africa. >> serious faith that man has. 47 minutes past the hour. the suspect wanted for a hit and

run accident in new york that claimed the lives of a brooklyn couple and their unborn son turn himself in. he surrendered in bethlehem, pennsylvania, on wednesday. in a phone call with reporters. he said he was trying to escape from someone who was shooting at him at the time of the crash. >> no charges will be filed in the case of an 87-year-old woman who died after a worker at an elderly facility refused to perform cpr. the 911 operator begged the staff member who said she was a nurse to perform cpr on the dying woman. >> i understand if your facility is not willing to do that. give the phone to a passerby, a stranger. this woman is not breathing. she's going to die if we don't get this started. do you understand? >> glenn wood gardens has a policy. ems would have assumed all liability if the woman had followed the operator's

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. an exotic cat sanctuary remains closed one day after an african lion mauled and killed a 24-year-old intern inside the lion's cage. diana hanson of washington state was the victim. rand paul has stopped talking. the kentucky senator ending an old-fashioned filibuster at 12:38 eastern time. that was a.m. this morning. it lasted 12 hours, 52 minutes. paul was protesting the administration's domestic drone policy. his filibuster delaying the confirmation john brennan to be

the next director of the cia. state legislators in arkansas voted to override the governor's veto to ban adorgss after 12 weeks. said it blat and thely contradict the constitution. the law will be challenged in federal court. authorities in virginia suspect 50sen in a rash of fires along the eastern shore. since november, 62 vacant structures have been burned in accomack county, including two tuesday night. there's a $25,000 reward now for anyone with information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this case. >> so you are going to say j.woww when you see how snooki looks now. the queen of the jersey shore shows off her post-baby bikini

bod. >> i can't wait. >> we'll show it to you, all of it, coming up next.

welcome back. top cnn trends on the web this morning, would you look at the snook now? is that what we call her? >> wow. >> okay. she's no longer a member of team meatball. that's right. america's rose, snooki showing off her post baby body. you know how many pounds she lost? 42 pounds. she gained 42 pounds. they welcomed their baby boy last august. that was quite an accomplishment. she's young, so it's easier to shed the weight. >> i'm impressed if you're not. taco bell fans mad as he almost l or mad as shell. people are freaking out over the

new doritos taco available in cool ranch flavor. many people lost it on social media when they could not find the new taco, the cool ranch taco at their local restaurant. there were thousands of comments on taco bell's facebook page with one fan writing i've never been so angry in my life. i'm glad people have perspective on what's important in life. okay. to check out other top cnn trends head to cnn.com/trends. "early start" continues right now. attacked without warning. a lion suddenly turns on one of its keepers, an intern, killing the young woman inside a cage. still developing at this hour, new threats from north korea and talk of a nuclear attack. high seas, strong winds, a powerful winter storm brings a flood threat to some of the same areas hit hard by hurricane

sandy. >> and droning on and on and on and on. one senator's pretty historic and interesting protest over drones turn into a one-man, nearly 13-hour marathon on capitol hill. rand paul. >> really interesting to watch. >> finishing up minutes ago. welcome to "early start," i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we are following a developing story out of north korea. the country amping up its rhetoric, threatening a preemptive nuclear strike against the united states. we have following the developments from seoul, south korea. what can you tell us ab anna? >> as you say, more fiery rhetoric coming out of north korea. this is verging on the absurd. north korea's state news agency has said that the united states is working to ignite a nuclear attack on north korea.

and it said in a in response tot it will exercise the right to a preemptive nuclear attack. now, this is, of course, happening as there are joint military exercises between the united states and south korea planned for the next couple of days. they will carry on for a month. this is something that, of course, angers north korea. you mentioned the u.n. sanctions which will be discussed and voted on in the next several hours, 10:00 a.m. in new york. it is expected that they will be enforced, tougher sanctions. but tougher sanctions have not worked and the experts we have spoken to here in seoul say it's time for dialogue. that is the only way to move this forward. >> this is just happening so we don't have any response yet from the u.n. or the u.s., right? >> reporter: not at this stage. certainly from the south korean defense ministry we got word, zoraida, that they are seeing more widespread military operations taking place in north

korea. much on a grander scale, they said, which is highly unusual. so that means that there are air, sea and land military exercises taking place. you get the impression that things are ratcheting up here and tensions are much higher. >> anna koren live, thank you very much. we have new developments in the horrifying mauling death of a female intern at an exotic cat sanctuary in california. what you're looking at is exclusive cnn video of the 350-pound african lion who had to be shot and killed. would refuse anyone to approach the body of his victim, diana hanson. her father said she died doing what she loved most. >> she was so happy when she got that internship. it was her dream job. it makes it bearable that she died so happy. >> the project survival cat

haven in dunlap, florida, is where we find dan simon this morning. what is the latest on this tragic story? >> reporter: hi, john. were the protocols followed, were they ignored. was this young woman lulled into some sense of security. inside there are 50 exotic cats. the place had all the permits, was regulated by the state and seemed to have a decent reputation. >> this is a north african lion. >> reporter: a lion shot dead wednesday afternoon. >> a female volunteer intern entered the lion's enclosure where she was attacked and fatally injured. the lion was shot and killed per our safety protocols. our thoughts and friends go out to our friend and family -- and to her family at this time, at this trying time. >> reporter: the 24-year-old volunteer has been identified as dianna hanson from washington

state. her facebook page shows her picture with large cats. her father released a statement last night saying in part diane was so excited at working at cat haven and living in california. her favorites were the tiger and the lion cous cous who killed her today. >> reporter: jennifer michaels, also known as jungle jenny got an up-close view of the lion while getting a tour of the animal sanctuary called cat haven in central california. >> i didn't see any type of aggressive behavior or anything that i needed to be worried about. >> reporter: it is a 100-acre wooded sanctuary, home to some of the rarest cats in the world, including lions, tigers and leopards. it describes itself as an innovative park, dedicated to the preservation of wildcats. 5-year-old cous cous came to the sanctuary as a cup. this species of lion no longer

exists in the wild. >> they were killed off in the wild in about the 1920s so all the ones you see are in captivity. >> reporter: as for the victim, dianna hanson, it's not clear how she died, but her father says big cats were her passion, writing we will miss you so much, but i know that you will be happy. for now, you truly are in the eternal cat haven. and, john, i think what strikes you in that statement is the father, who also happens to be a lawyer, doesn't seem to have a trace of bitterness or animosity towards cat haven. in fact he said the way to honor his daughter's memory is to support preservation societies just like this one. sglaun john. >> dan simon, our thanks to you. "starting point" will have much more on this attack. soledad will be joined by jeff corwin, then the director

emeritous of the zoo will join us live. while you were asleep rand paul finally stopped talking. the kentucky senator protesting the obama administration's domestic drone policy with an old-fashioned filibuster, stopping only for an occasional drink or a bite of a snickers bar that he brought with him while delaying the eventual confirmation of cia john brennan in order to make this point. >> no american should be killed by a drone on american soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found to be guilty by a court. that americans could be killed in a cafe in san francisco or in a restaurant in houston or at their home in bowling green, kentucky, is an abomination. >> shannon travis is live from washington this morning. this was quite a long-winded ordeal. >> reporter: it was quite a long-winded or deal, one that we haven't seen in a while.

south carolina's strom thurmond holds the record, 24 hours of a filibuster. rand paul says that he would have gone longer, zoraida, but that nature has its limits and he was ending his fill buto tak of one of them. can the u.s. mount a drone strike against americans on u.s. soil? that's born out of some comments from attorney general eric holder at a senate hearing yesterday saying that he could envision the scenario, so paul is deeply concerned about brennan being confirmed as cia director. he's one of the architects of the program. the senator, rand paul, also used a little bit of a fairy tale metaphor to make his point. take a listen. >> has america the beautiful become alice's wonderland? no, no said the queen. sentence first. verdict afterwards.

stuff and nonsense, alice said loudly. the idea of having the sentence first? hold your tongue, said the queen, turning purple. i won't, said alice. release the drones said the queen, as she shouted at the top of her voice. louis carroll is fiction, right? >> reporter: and that's really the crux of this question here, can an american terror suspect be killed without due process in the courts. that's really what rand paul is concerned about. he actually had a little bit of an assist from a democrat, ron white of oregon, who took to the floor to help him with this filibuster. >> so how is the white house responding to this? >> reporter: the white house is responding. we know that attorney general eric holder yesterday in that senator hearing basically said that, look, this has never happened, it's not intended to happen. take a listen at how he put it. >> the government has no

intention to carry out any drone strikes in the united states. it's hard for me to imagine a situation in which that would occur. we have within the united states the ability to use our law enforcement capacity. as a result, the use of droughns is from my perspective something that is entirely, entirely hypothetical. >> reporter: entirely hypothetical says eric holder, but again, you have some people on the far right and the far left who are concerned about even the possibility of that happening. zoraida. >> hence that long filibuster. thank you so much. shannon travis live from washington. it will be another day of questioning from the jurors when the jodi arias murder trial resumes in just a few hours from now. arizona is one of three states that actually allows jury questions during a criminal proceeding. arias answered nearly 100 of those questions yesterday, including one about her memory lapse after shooting boyfriend travis alexander. >> why is it that you have no

memory of stabbing travis? >> i can't really explain why my mind did what it did. maybe because it's too horrible. >> travis alexander was stabbed 27 times and his throat was slashed. if convicted, arias could get the death penalty. so sharks near shore and numbering in the thousands. oh, gosh, look at that. >> i'm going to put this on a loop and give it to you for christmas. >> just when lifeguards thought it would be safe to let people back in the water, they decided to close the beaches for a second day yesterday. a wise move. shark sightings like these, we're talking tens of thousands of sharks here, these are actually fairly common this time of year. the sharks are moving north after spending the winter in the south, but, you know -- >> as long as you're not swimming with them, berman, you're safe. actually some people can swim with them, right?

anyway, nine minutes past the hour here. happening now, winter storm warnings are in effect for eight states as a powerful winter storm beats down on the northeast this morning. this is that same system that made a mess of the midwest and paralyzed parts of virginia with 20 inches of snow wednesday, installeri snarling traffic on the ground and in the air. more than 1600 flights have been canceled at three major airports. the governor declared a state of emergency in virginia and mass power outages have at least 215,000 customers without electricity. so right now the northeast is bracing for snow, strong, gusty winds and possible coastal flooding as well. we are going to begin with jennifer delgado. she is live in massachusetts. how are the winds now? pretty powerful i see. >> reporter: pretty powerful actually, zoraida. it looks like they have come up about 10 miles per hour over the last hour.

if you're looking out into the bay, we're on the south shore. you see the white caps and the waves crashing. that's what happens when you get the strong winds coming in from the north-northeast. we do have a coastal flood warn as well as wind advisory from virginia up towards maine but for massachusetts and especially those coastal areas that are facing north-northeast, they're going to be at the greatest risk for the coastal flooding as well as coastal erosion. you can see how the rocks are protecting the area. you see the docks, you see some of the fishing boats over towards the east. and, yeah, some of those people are out there kind of really shoring up their boats. but keep in mind, we're expecting high tide to come at 6:50. when that does come, we're expecting a storm surge just under three feet, so that's why they do have the national guard in place because there is an voluntary evacuation in place in case some of those communities that are closer to the water get

into some danger. of course many of these areas are more susceptible following the nor'easter that we had back in february, and of course sandy that happened last year. so again, conditions are bad here. the winds are picking up. we could still see some gusts up to about 60 miles per hour. zoraida. >> it is no rest for the weary. jennifer, thank you for that. let's get over to karen maginnis. we see what the storm has done to the midwest, what it's doing to virginia. d.c. seemed to avoid any major snow. we were expecting some serious snow here. we got wind instead. what can we see today? >> yeah, this was a very difficult winter storm to forecast. we knew some areas would see enhanced snowfall. washington, d.c., at dulles they saw a record snowfall, daily record of just over 3 inches, but you go much further to the east and it was just a trace in some cases. well, here's our storm system. it's off the coast now. but there's going to be a little enhancement. that comes down from the midwest and will actually enhance the

wind and enhance the snow. those winds are gusting in boston up close to 40 miles an hour. as jennifer said, we're expecting high tide very shortly. there's an afternoon high tide. with this area of low pressure just kind of sluggishly moving offshore, wind-driven waves will produce tides that are about 3 to 5 feet above normal, so there is an above normal high tide that we're expecting. this goes through friday. this is not just another one-day event. this looks like it's going to be for the next 24 to 36 hours. coastal flood warnings all the way from new jersey to maine. >> all right, karen maginnis, thank you very much. so just when you thought the dow couldn't go higher, it actually did. just 24 hours after hitting an all-time high, the dow jones industrial average did it again. i'm confusing the dow and the how. so it picked up 42 points to close at a record 14,296. get this, the dow is up an

astonishing 9% already this year. happening right now, dow futures pointing higher and that means the bulls could be running again at the opening bell. >> so 13 minutes after the hour right now. coming up, president obama's dinner date with republican senators. he picked up the tab, but was compromise on the menu? e help c. no? oh, right. you're thinking of the 1.6 million daily customer care interactions xerox handles. or the 900 million health insurance claims we process. so, it's no surprise to you that companies depend on today's xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. with xerox, you're ready for real business. hi, i'm ensure clear... clear, huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've got nine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach.

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. president obama breaking bread with republicans, but will it help break the partisan gridlock in taxes and spending cuts? that's the key question. the president took a group of key republican senators to dinner last night in the nation's capital, a swanky restaurant, signaling a new strategy of personal outreach during this time of forced spending cuts. cnn's dan lothian is live in washington with more on the dining and the dealing and maybe the nice tone? >> reporter: that's right. there is this sense of optimism coming out of that dinner meeting. the president, according to the white house, enjoyed the dinner, said that there was a good exchange of ideas. they touched on a number of issues, such as the debt, the deficit, dealing with entitlement reforms, also tax reforms. we're told by some of the senators who attended that

dinner that the tone was, in their words, very real and that while everyone was respectful, nobody was holding back punches. it was a dinner date with republicans, and president obama picked up the tab. blocks from the white house at the swanky jefferson hotel, food and fiscal challenges and an effort to find compromise less than a week after across-the-board cuts kicked in. >> how did the meeting go? >> just fine. >> reporter: 12 republican senators invited by the president broke bread for more than two hours. >> what was the tone in the room like? >> very positive. encouraging, candid, focused on how do we come together. compromise is necessary and it's possible. the issue is how do we get there. >> reporter: president obama has stepped up his outreach to republicans in recent days. a series of phone calls, this dinner and planned trips to capitol hill next week, engaging in a way his critics said he failed to do in his first term.

>> ultimately the way we're going to get stuff done, personal relationships are important. obviously i can always do a better job. >> reporter: the dinner didn't result in any major agreements, but it was viewed as a positive step in the right direction. >> that's why these kinds of dialogues are so important and there needs to be more of them. >> reporter: so again, they see this dinner as a good foundation for further discussions, but none of these senators is naive. there's still some big challenges out there. as one of the senators pointed out, that it's still unclear how we get from here to there. one thing we do know is that president obama heads up to capitol hill next week to meet separately with senate and house republicans. there's clearly a shift here as the president tries to reach out in a more significant way. john. >> that's right. they had steak, sea bass, seemed to be successful. maybe he'll bring that to capitol hill next week when he heads up there. >> reporter: that's right. >> dan lothian, our thanks to you. 19 minutes past the hour. to buy or not to buy? that's a big question with the

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welcome back. good morning to you. we're minding your business this morning. the stock market looking for more gains. we all are. >> absolutely. so christine romans is here. christine, what does this really mean? >> it means that if you've got a stock investment, a 401(k) and stocks in it, you're doing better. the s&p 500 is up 8% just this

year. the stocks portion of your 401(k) retirement probably most reflects the s&p 500. everyone is saying what the case to keep buying stocks. here's the case to buy stocks. the fed is still pumping money into the system. you've heard me say this, there is no alternative. a lot of investment gurus are saying you've got to ride the stock market wave while it's here. we have corporate profits. we have $1.7 trillion in cash. companies are making money. they have money in the bank. they're not necessarily hiring, but they're making money, there's money in the bank and stocks are still considered a fair value. they don't look overly expensive when you look at a lot of these different gauges. what's the case against buying stocks because there are hedge fund managers who are saying this thing is ripe to start falling and they're making bets against it. you've got europe's recession. you've got debt theatrics in washington. something goes poorly there and interest rates go up and that

makes stocks a less attractive investment. you've got a strapped american consumer. how much longer can corporate profits doing so well but you're not having good job growth. and you could have just good old-fashioned profit taking. 14% for the s&p 500. they say you know what, i think stocks could still go up. i'm going to take some of my money off the table and that's why you see a decline in the stock market. that's a pretty fairly balanced do you buy, do you not buy here. we just don't know. if i knew what would happen next in stocks, i would be on some awesome island in the south pacific. >> but we're glad you're not. what's the one thing we need to know about our money? >> you've got to make sure that you rebalance. i suggest and write that you rebalance your portfolio every quarter. what does that mean? that means you make sure you have the right percentage of stocks, bonds, cash and alternative investments. stocks have gone up for so long, maybe you have too much stock part in your portfolio, you need to trim that down a little bit and buy some of the other things

at lower prices to balance it out, rebalance. do it every quarter i say. if you rebalance less than you go to the dentist, you're in trouble. >> all right, thank you. >> do you go to the dentist? >> no, i haven't been in a long time. >> do you rebalance more than you go to the dentist? >> i'm going to do both, i promise. starting now i'm going to do both. >> he's not going to the dentist, read between the lines. there lies the problem. >> you have very nice teeth. >> thank you very much. 26 minutes after the hour. back to business, mitt romney has accepted a new job. we will have the details on this new gig coming up next. nd taste, even ragu users chose prego. prego?! but i've been buying ragu for years. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made? [ club scene music ] [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego.

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that appears on your screen. a wild animal and a deadly attack. a 24-year-old woman at an animal sanctuary killed inside a lion cage. a nuclear threat this morning. the aggressive claims from north korea. off the stage and behind bars. earl this morning, a judge cracking down on the ballet dancer accused in an acid attack on a theater director. we are live in russia coming up. and no rest for the storm weary. people still picking up after sandy. they are now on watch for a brand new flood threat this morning. on that note, i am going to say welcome back. welcome to "early start." >> it is great to see you this morning. it is thursday, march 7th. 30 minutes after the hour right now. new this morning, north korea threatening a preemptive

nuclear strike against the united states. as the u.n. security council prepares to vote on tougher sanctions against it. a foreign ministry spokesman made the threat in a statement to a state-run news agency. right now it is believed pyongyang does not have the capacity to deliver a nuclear strike on the united states. in other news, we have new information about a woman mauled to death by a lion at an animal sanctuary. this is exclusive cnn video of the 350-pound african lion named couscous. he had to be shot and killed by sheriff's deputies when he would not allow anyone to come close enough to rescue a 24-year-old intern. her name was dianna hanson. this horrible tragedy unfolding yesterday afternoon at the project survival cat haven in dunlap, california. dan simon is there for us this morning. dan, what is the latest? >> reporter: hi, john. i think there are a few key questions this morning. what kind of protocols did this facility have in place? were they followed? were they ignored? how did this young woman, this

24-year-old volunteer intern, get in a position where she could be alone with this lion and be attacked? let me tell you a little bit about this place, cat haven. it's got 50 exotic, rare, some of these cats are very large. it's open to the public. they have guided tours every day. now, this young woman, the intern, 24-year-old dianna hanson, she came from washington state. this was her dream. she wanted to be around these kind of animals. her father spoke out and said that she had a rare passion for these kinds of cats. take a look. >> she was so happy when she got that internship. she was having so much fun down there. it was her dream job. she was so happy there, it makes it bearable that she died so happy. >> reporter: well, the investigation will obviously continue today. as we said earlier, was she

lulled into some kind of false sense of security? did she feel like she had bonded with this lion in some sense? you see some of these youtube videos with trainers hugging the lions. we don't want to speculate but it makes you wonder how she got into this enclosure and how, you know, did she feel safe or was this just some kind of bizarre accident. >> just an intern alone with a lion in a cage makes you think did she think this lion was safe. had this lion shown any previous signs of aggression? >> reporter: apparently not. at least as far as we can tell. this lion was sort of a public figure. had been on some television shows, had been photographed a lot. as best as we can tell in terms of people who had been around this lion, it absolutely showed no signs of aggression. this lion was raised -- born into captivity, came here at six weeks of age, was five years old

and apparently didn't show any violence or aggression towards human beings. >> dan simon at cat haven for us in california this morning. our thanks to you. 34 minutes past the hour. winter storm warnings are in effect right now for at least eight states. that's from new jersey to maine. this is the same system that tore apart the midwest and buried parts of virginia under 20 inches of snow on wednesday. a travel nightmare ensued on the highways and at the airports. more than 1600 flights were cancelled and the governor declared a state of emergency in virginia. a mass power outage has at least 216,000 customers without electricity this morning. and right now, new england is bracing for really strong gusty winds, coastal flooding and add some snow to that as well. new york city and boston could get anywhere from 2 to 5 inches of snow today. the heaviest snowfall, up to a foot, is predicted for parts of new hampshire, maine, connecticut and eastern new york

state. we've got this covered for you. karen maginnis is live in the severe weather center with a lot more details for us. good morning to you. >> good morning to you, zoraida. this area of low pressure is offshore but it's not gone away. we're going to see some wind-enhanced wave heights over the next 24 to 36 hours. here's what it looks like on our enhanced water vapor imagery. we'll watch a little piece of energy move off of the great lakes, kind of combined with the system and so that's really going to enhance the snowfall. well, the winds are gusting up to around 50 miles an hour this morning. take a look at boston. right now in the past hour just about 40 miles an hour but because they're coming out of the north and the northeast, that's why we could see at high tide some of these wave heights about 3 to 5 feet above where the high tide would normally be. so the coastal flood warnings in effect all the way from coastal regions of new jersey extending

up to new york and we will see that extend up into new england as we head towards the weekend. so we're not finished with this system yet. even in boston, you could expect 4 to 6 inches of snowfall. and there is a winter weather advisory in effect. back to you, zoraida. >> thank you very much, karen maginnis. and we have some breaking news right now. former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi apparently just sentenced in court to one year in prison. that's from the italian news agency. it involves the publication of a leak of transcripts from a police wire tap on a newspaper that he owns. under italian law berlusconi won't actually go to prison. his lawyers can appeal the conviction to the supreme court which will suspend the sentence. in two other court cases involving berlusconi, one involves tax fraud, another involves accusations of sex with an underage prostitute. at a minimum, some serious legal

issues for the prime minister. overseas, a russian court ruling the alleged mastermind of an acid attack on the head of the bolshoi ballet and his two alleged co-conspirators will remain in custody while police continue to investigate this. the company's lead dancer could face eight years in jail if convicted in the attack that may have been fueled by jealousy. phil black is following all of the developments. he is live in moscow for us. phil, the lead dancer did confess. what did he say his role was in this attack? >> reporter: zoraida, he confessed to being the organizer here, but only to a point. he admits that he was unhappy with the artistic director of the bolshoi. he talked about this to someone that he knew. and this person offered to help take care of the problem by beating up the man. dimitri said he agreed to that

but he said he did not agree to, had no idea of and certainly did not order was the use of sulfuric acid in this attack. he said he had no idea that was going to happen. he did not want the man to be hurt seriously. when he heard what happened, he was just as shocked as anyone else. >> so the other two that are in custody, what do they say about what he's saying? >> we're still waiting to hear precisely what that will be, just to what extent their version of the story does differ. they have also been remanded in custody while this investigation is completed and until it moves on to a proper trial. according to the russian police, however, those two have also confessed to their role in planning and carrying out this attack. >> it's a horrific attack. phil black live for us in moscow, thank you very much. 38 minutes after the hour. this morning hugo chavez' body lies in state this morning in

venezuela. various latin american leaders are already there for tomorrow's funeral. the country has declared seven days of mourning, closed schools and deployed armed forces to help keep the peace. they also banned the sale, distribution and consumption of alcohol during this mourning period. today president obama will sign the violence against women act into law. the republican-run house finally signed off on the bill after months of negotiations. it's aimed at strengthening the criminal system's response to domestic violence, sexual assault and sex trafficking. women from leading advocacy groups have been invited. vice president joe biden will be there as well. so in case you were worried, mitt romney -- mitt romney has landed on his feet. don't want you to worry anymore. the former presidential candidate is returning to the private sector. the former massachusetts governor is joining his oldest son, tagg, at an investment firm which tagg runs. he will reportedly work for the firm one week a month advising on matters of private equitiy

which he knows a little something about, so tagg just signed a good adviser. 39 minutes after the hour right now. an old-fashioned filibuster lasting nearly 13 hours. but did rand paul's big stand really accomplish anything? and the hunt for a serial arsonist. authorities trying to find out who is burning the virginia shore. to show google users what they've been missing on bing. let's bing it on. [fight bell: ding, ding] how many here are google users? what if i was to tell you that you would actually like bing way more than google when it came to the results? prove it. let's look up some taco places. i like the left side. yeah? okay, do we need to find out what the waves are like down at the beach? what side do you like better? i like the results on the right. i'm gonna go with the one on the left. oh! bing won! people prefer bing over google for the web's top searches. don't believe it? go to bingiton.com and see what you're missing. she can't always move the way she wants. now you can. with stayfree ultra thins.

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welcome back. soledad o'brien joins us with a look at what's ahead on "starting point." >> we're going to start with the tragedy at the big cat sanctuary. a young woman mauled to death by a lion. is it ever safe to work with wild animals? we put that question to jeff

corwin and jack hanna. president obama invites 12 republican senators to dinner. that sounds like it could be a hot mess but in fact we're told it went pretty well. we'll find out what was on the menu for them. and then a high school basketball coach sinks a half-court shot winning $20,000. then we learned that the money is going to go to his wife's cancer treatments. and they have seven children too. they're going to join us this morning with their incredible story about what's happening with them. also mila kunis, did you see some interview she did with this young guy who works for the bbc. he's absolutely adorable and talks about everything exempt the movie that she's there to pitch but it's hilarious. we chat with him this morning about how he thinks it went. >> i bet he thinks it went great. >> i keep waiting to hear about the date that he asked her on. top stories this morning. news flash, rand paul has stopped talking. the republican senator from

kentucky finally ended his old-fashioned filibuster at 12:38 eastern time. that was this morning. it lasted 12 hours, 52 minutes. paul is protesting the administration's domestic drone policy. his filibuster delaying the confirmation of john brennan to be the next director of the cia. arkansas lawmakers have overturned the governor's veto of a controversial new state law that bans abortion after 12 weeks. this means that there is that law now in effect. it is the most restrictive early abortion ban in the country. the center for reproductive rights and the arkansas aclu say they will challenge this law in federal court. authorities in virginia say arson is to blame for more than 60 fires along the eastern shore. since november 62 vacant structures have burned, including two on tuesday night. the atf and fbi have joined this investigation now and there is a $25,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to an arrest and a conviction in this case. new this morning, we have

learned that yahoo!'s ceo marissa mayer received a $1.1 million bonus for her first five and a half months running the company. it is on top of her $1 million annual salary and $56 million in long-term stock. she's doing pretty well. the 37-year-old mayer recently causing some controversy after ending the policy that yahoo! employees can no longer work from home. she said the company stock has gone up 46% since mayer became boss. >> hence the bonus you imagine, right? last month delta announced flyers will have to spend more to achieve elite status in 2014. now three major hotel chains are also upping the ante for loyalty members. >> hilton, marriott and another is raising their program. >> once again, if you are a tried and true business traveler, this may not affect you. if you are a budget traveler, a loyalty point collector, changes will make it a lot harder for

travelers to get free stays at those major chains. hilton will almost double the number of points needed for a night at its most popular properties during peak seasons. marriott will also raise the reward points required to stay at more than 1,000 of its locations worldwide. that starts may 15th. and starwood plans to increase the points plus cash needed for stays by 25%. when those changes kick in over the next few months, loyalty members will see the points they accrued immediately drop in value. there are potentially someup sides. starwood claims changes will make it easier for members to upgrade their room. hilton says it will make every fifth night free for elite members. that's why i say the very, very high-ending business traveler, there could be perks there. if you're planning on taking a trip any time soon, get booking. you can only redeem points at the previous level for a few more weeks. >> i don't know if you realize this, but one of the few things reporters can actually talk about outside the office are hotel points and frequent flier

miles so this hits us close to home. >> if you look at what i reported last week about the air loyalty programs, you're going to have to fly more miles to be able to accrue more miles. so on both ends there will be some changes this year, no question. >> this is tough. >> john, don't cry. >> all right, thanks. 48 minutes past the hour. they have got each other but some wonder if these two love birds and sports superstars still got game.

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both the miami heat and the

chicago blackhawks needed some winning shots in the final seconds to keep their historic streaks going. did they? >> joe carter has the answer for you in this morning's bleacher report. hey, joe. >> hey, good morning, guys. yes, they both had game-winning shots in the final seconds. the miami heat had to do it the hard way because they blew a 20-point lead but still managed to find a way to win. i guess that's what championship teams do, though. the streak for miami now up to 16 straight games and counting. only five other teams in nba history have won 16 games in a row. lebron james threw down this awesome dunk in the first half, but it was in the final seconds that miami needed him the most of the with the game on the line, you give the ball to the king. splits the defense, the layup. that's good enough for the one-point win. miami has 45 wins on the season. orlando has 45 losses. well, the chicago blackhawks also needed some magic at the end of their game. dan cerillo scored his first

goal of the season, the game-winner. fans across chicago celebrating another big win. this team is on a magical run. halfway into the season, still unbeaten in regulation. in fact if you go back, the blackhawks have yet to lose in regulation since last march. well, golf's number one player in the world, rory mcilroy, says his relationship with tennis star caroline wozniacki is solid, it's great. rumors suggested trouble in the couple's personal life because of trouble in their professional life. rory recently quit midround at the honda classic. wozniacki upset in her tournament after just one round. >> just because i have a bad day on the golf course and caroline loses a match in malaysia doesn't mean that we're breaking up. it's sports. look, i'd rather keep my private life as private as possible. >> now that we got that cleared up, good. the clippers blake griffin in my opinion threw down the dunk of the year last night.

watch this, jamal crawford, the pass between the legs and the windmill finish by griffin. wow, here it is again. oh, nice. now, magic johnson recently offered lebron james a million dollars to enter next year's slam dunk contest. i'm thinking he should give blake griffin a call. >> that was sweet. >> finally, four top teams in college basketball went down last night. georgetown upset by villanova and georgia tech beat number six miami on a last-second tip-in. you've got twitter reaction and postgame recap at bleacherreport.com. can't wait for march madness. a couple more weeks and we'll see some crazy, crazy games. >> can i say, joe, i just love the bleacher report. thank you. >> that blake griffin dunk worth more than a million bucks. that's more like a ten million dollar dunk. thanks to you. "early start" back right after the break. max and penny kept our bookstore

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